


Between the Boundaries

by j4ponica



Category: SixTONES (Band)
Genre: Afterlife, Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Goddesses, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:48:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27897820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/j4ponica/pseuds/j4ponica
Summary: Kochi suddenly disappeared from existence entirely. However, Taiga was still able to remember him and searched for the whereabouts of his best friend.
Relationships: Kouchi Yugo/Kyomoto Taiga
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	Between the Boundaries

**Author's Note:**

> So I may or may not sparked this idea because I feel like writing something angsty.  
> Then I watched Babel Kyusaku. So here it is.  
> Enjoy. Warning: OOC content cause I suck at writing these two.  
> (I suggest you read Something on My Head before you read this, lol, but I really don't care.)

Kochi called to inform that he would be off work for two days. Everyone was surprised with this piece of news - he never took day offs, and he looked perfectly fine the day before.

Taiga heard of the news. The news of Kochi’s mother passing away. She had been bedridden for years, and it seemed that time had run out. He told everyone in the Agency about it so they stop making foolish guesses. Everyone went back to work normally afterwards.

Kochi’s mother was the only family member that was close to him, after his father passed away five years ago. It seemed that the Kochi family was always plagued by illness. From what Taiga heard, Kochi’s brother had leukemia and his father died of heart failure. Now, his mother passed away after a long battle with cancer. Truly a family without luck by their side.

Little did Taiga know, after the supposed two days of Kochi’s absence, things had changed in the Agency. He went to work normally, but realised that a desk was missing. It was the desk next to Hokuto’s - the desk where Kochi would work. His belongings were gone as well.

Taiga checked the garbage bin. Nothing. Then, he checked the Agency’s website. Kochi’s name was removed. It was like Kochi, along with his belongings, or any trace of his existence had disappeared into thin air.

“What’s the frantic search, Kyomo? Did you lose something?” Juri entered the Agency. He bought himself breakfast to start the day.

“Well, I was finding Kochi’s belongings,” Taiga replied softly.

“Kochi? Don’t know that person.”

Juri went back into his office with a sandwich and coffee in his hands.

His response was odd, but it matched the fact that Kochi’s name and image did not appear on the official website. Taiga was right - Kochi’s existence was removed, all of a sudden, without any reason.

As more people entered the Agency, Taiga acted like nothing happened. He did not bother asking about Kochi. He knew that he would just get a question, asking who he was referring to. Taiga worked quietly for the rest of the day, but his mind was occupied with the thought that his friend disappeared.

Taiga was determined to find Kochi.

* * *

Kochi had a lot of things to deal with the past two days. His mother passed away in hospital. He planned out a small funeral, in which he was the only one who attended. No one else appeared, not even his other relatives - they had a fall out with his mother anyways.

Sometimes, Kochi failed to realise how lonely his family was, but he finally understood when his mother passed away. He was the only person alive in his small family of four. His other relatives did not care about his parents. From this point, Kochi was all on his own.

The last thing he did in these two days was to take the urn of his mother’s ashes and place it in the grave where his father resided. He talked to them for a while, then headed home. He felt that someone touched him on his way home, but he dismissed it. Maybe it was just someone bumping into him in the busy streets at dusk.

_ “Good morning.” _

Yuna greeted him.

Kochi found that he was sleeping on the concrete floor. As he got up, he looked around. There was a river. A lot of grass, Then, this concrete road he was lying on. Some people walked around, but they did not look like humans.

Strange creatures crawled on the floor. It resembled the spirits he always saw, but it felt different. Still in the green coat, black sweater and jeans he wore from yesterday, Kochi found himself not in his house. He was in this weird place where it felt neither like the meadows from the deepest part of his consciousness, or real life.

“Where am I?” Kochi asked, but not expecting a response.

_ “Between the boundaries.” _

“How?”

Kochi immediately understood Yuna’s words. The world is divided into two boundaries. One is the real world, the physical world where all live animals and humans live in. That is called the 1st Boundary. Then, there was the afterlife, where spirits and ghosts reside. That is called the 2nd Boundary.

Kochi was stuck in the small vortex between the 1st and 2nd Boundary.

“How do I get out?”

_ “No idea.” _

“You’re a goddess! You should know!”

_ “I’m not the goddess of death. I give life, not take them.” _

First, his mother’s death. Then, being stuck between two boundaries? All Kochi wished was to return to the real world, but it seemed that there was no way out. There was no door to leave. No signs of any exit.

Kochi decided to get up and walked around. The surroundings scenery resembled his neighbourhood, but the sky was tinted with a persistent hue of red. The humans that walked would sometimes walk through him. It was as if Kochi was alive, but also not at the same time.

For a long time, Kochi strolled around this weird world he got sucked in. Was it because of the thing he touched yesterday when he was making his way home? Or it was something else? Ghosts in cemeteries were known to be tricksters, but he never heard of anything like this.

Yuna was awfully quiet. Maybe she fell asleep again.

He eventually grew tired, but his eyes lit up when he saw the Agency building. Rushed with hope that he finally went back to the real world, he rushed into the building and made his way back into the Agency.

When he finally swung the door open, it was empty. There were desks, but there was no sight of any human existing. There was nothing on the desks either. Kochi was surprised with the empty office. The Agency has always been lively.

Suddenly, the dimensions shifted. Kochi was suddenly transported back to his high school.

It was the annual School Festival. Second year of high school.

* * *

Taiga began his search for Kochi. He knew of two locations that Kochi would always go.

He first visited the shrine Kochi would visit everyday. He asked the shrine maiden of Kochi’s appearance, but when Taiga tried to find a picture of Kochi on his phone, he was nowhere to be seen. Even in group photos, he was gone.

All Taiga could do was to use his mouth. He tried his best to describe his best friend, but the shrine maiden could only shake her head, claiming that she never saw such a person.

Taiga then went to the apartment complex Kochi lived in. He managed to talk to the landlord, and asked him whether Kochi came back home. However, the landlord replied that he had no such tenant and the apartment Kochi supposedly lived in was empty and on lease for at least a few months.

He was right. Kochi’s existence was wiped away.

If this was true, then why would he remember him?

Taiga did not know anymore. He went back home and concluded his search.

“What’s the matter? You look dejected,” Taiga’s mother greeted him when he arrived back.

“I’m tired,” Taiga replied coldly.

“I’m making sukiyaki tonight. Be sure to eat lots!”

“Okay, mom.”

Taiga went to his room and took out a photo album. Since his family and Kochi’s family have been friends for a long time, they have a lot of pictures together. Taiga read through the photo album. Kochi disappeared from all the pictures. The pictures seemed to have been altered to show that he never existed. Kochi’s parents and brother were still in the photos, however.

Taiga closed the album and placed it back on the shelf. He led out a sigh.

He decided to check his diary, which he wrote during high school days. Oddly enough, Kochi’s name was still everywhere. He read the older entries. 

_ Kochi called me. _

_ He told me he broke up with his girlfriend. _

_ I could only say “I’m sorry”.  _

_ I wish I could comfort him in person. _

* * *

_ Not second year of high school. Not this school festival. _

Kochi hated every part of this, but he was forced to relive his past memories by some unknown force.

The dimensions shifted to show everything that happened on that day. Kochi saw his past self, a boy of average height, walking to school. The school was decorated from top to bottom. It was the annual School Festival anyways. Next to Kochi was a sweet-looking girl.

He remembered her. She was Misaki. His first girlfriend in high school.

Kochi entered the school, but he was aware that no one saw him. They all saw the 16-year-old Kochi and his cute girlfriend. They were the talk of the school. Quite an infamous couple.

Misaki has a Quirk. He does not.

Misaki was popular. He was not.

He never understood why Misaki chose to date him. It just happened. Everything was a blur to the now 23-year-old. He decided to look around and follow his past self.

His class decided to transfor, their classroom into a cafe. Kochi, who was decent at cooking, was in charge of making food, along with a few classmates. The classroom was decorated beautifully, thoroughly prepared for any guests to come in class 2-B.

When the school was finally open for guests to come in, class 2-B caught a lot of people’s eye. Misaki, being the pretty girl, had attracted a lot of male guests. Kochi, meanwhile, diligently made food for any incoming guests.

Looking back at his former self, this School Festival was not that bad, right?

That was where he was wrong.

For a few hours, Kochi observed the classroom full of guests and students working. The cafe was a huge success, and Kochi sharpened his cooking skills. He felt good about his work today. There was one problem - there was a surplus of eggs. The boys in the class bought too many of them and they only managed to use slightly more than half of the eggs.

As the sun began to set and the festival came to an end, Kochi, with Misaki and a few students, stayed behind to clean up. As Kochi was removing some of the decorations from the walls of the classroom, he felt something get thrown to his head.

It was a raw egg.

“Thanks for all your hard work today,” Misaki said, but her tone was malicious.

“I tried my best,” Kochi answered.

“You know what,” Misaki continued, “you’re quite fun to play with.”

There came another raw egg.

Kochi, taken away by the sudden attacks, almost fell from his chair. Why was Misaki throwing eggs at him? It was not just her. Everyone was armed with eggs.

“I had fun dating you, but that’s all from me.”

Those words were piercing to hear. From a pretty girl like her, Misaki spoke such wretched words to him. The group continued to throw eggs at Kochi, as they laughed at this mess they made. So that was the reason they bought extra eggs.

It was Misaki’s plan to humiliate him.

And so they broke up.

The dimensions changed again.

_ “A bad memory?” _

“Yes, Yuna-san, a terrible memory.”

Kochi’s head began to hurt. He recalled how defeated he felt that day. He left behind to clean the mess, which his uniform was tainted with egg whites and yolks. Misaki laughed so maniacally. He also knew of Misaki’s real boyfriend whom she had been dating behind his back. It plagued the 16-year-old, as well as the current 23-year-old.

His first love who destroyed any hopes of him getting recognised and being loved.

He found himself by the riverside. The river flowed, its voice oddly calming for the wandering boy. Kochi decided to lay down under a tree, by the green grass. The sky was still tinted red. His surroundings were quiet other than the sound of the river running.

Yuna did not talk. She must have fallen asleep again.

Kochi laid on the grass. It hurt his face a little, but nothing hurt more than the fact that he was reminded of the devastation from his first love and being alone. 

He thought about himself again. How pathetic he was. How weak he was. How he never had the guts to tell his parents or Taiga about anything. How he never fought back his bullies and suffered in silence…

More so, how he was left alone in the real world, with no family to go back to.

Occupied with sadness, Kochi eventually fell asleep.

* * *

Taiga searched back and forth for days. It had been 5 days since Kochi disappeared.

The people in the Agency noted Taiga’s weird behaviour and how he was pensive all the time. Taiga only cared about two things: the whereabouts of his best friend and work. No one dared to disturb Taiga, since he claimed that no one understood what he was going through.

“You seriously need something to cheer you up,” Juri said.

“I don’t need it. I’m fine,” Taiga answered passively.

Juri took out a slice of strawberry shortcake, “Have this. You like sweet things, don’t you?” he asked. Taiga took the cake and ate it. It was sweet, but he felt that it only lasted a few seconds. His taste buds refused to work. That was how worried he was.

Taiga finished the cake so he would not hurt Juri’s feelings and went back to work.

The Agency decided to set up a plan to cheer Taiga up. For a happy pill like him, everyone was not used to Taiga being unhappy. Even Jesse, the happiest among the bunch and a fellow “happy pill”, could tell how frustrated Taiga was these past days.

Juri suggested a group party, so Taiga could let off some of his frustrations and be a bit happier, but Taiga declined and left the Agency early after he finished his reports. There went Juri’s party plan. Jesse suggested cracking jokes, in which Hokuto quickly declined, saying that this was the worst idea.

Taiga did not come back to the Agency the next morning. The Agency was concerned, rightfully so, but none of them were able to contact him. Taiga either switched his phone off or the battery ran out. Everyone grew more worried.

Meanwhile, Taiga ran over the entire neighbourhood, in search of his best friend.

He had never been so worried over someone. Not even that time where he dated the girl of his dreams. For some reason, Taiga did not experience a rush of love. He was rather cold and somewhat passive. They broke up quickly.

Yet, with Kochi, Taiga could feel that his heart was breaking. His best friend, his only friend he had since childhood, suddenly disappeared like that. No trace of his existence was found, apart from his diary entries. He must have done something wrong to the gods that he was cursed with the fact that only he remembered the existence of this boy.

They were both lonely souls, who were tied together because of an unfortunate incident.

_ “This is yours, isn’t it?” _

_ “Thank you, and I’m sorry to have gotten you into this trouble.” _

_ “Don’t worry, my bodyguards scared them away.” _

_ “You have bodyguards?” _

_ “You don’t?” _

_ “Not everyone has bodyguards!” _

He still remembered his first conversation with Kochi like it was yesterday. Taiga chuckled at the fact that he was a cheeky 9-year-old who was not aware of his rich upbringing. Kochi dragged him down the earth. Thinking about that again made Taiga sigh.

He really missed his best friend. A few tears dropped from his eyes.

For a boy who did not run fast, Taiga ran through the whole neighbourhood. He arrived at the outskirts of the neighbourhood - where a river was located. Surrounding the river were the most delicate of grass, and a few evergreens.

As he walked around the riverside, he spotted a figure laying under a tree. 

Taiga walked closer. And closer. Until he was able to see that it was a human.

Taiga found him.

* * *

“Just let me die, Yuna.”

Yuna stared at Kochi, who was laying in the meadows of his conscience. He finally fell into a deep slumber, after repeated nightmares that kept scaring him. The vortex between two boundaries surely did mess up his head.

“I can’t let you die. I am not assigned to do such a thing,” Yuna said.

“Then do nothing.”

This was the first time Yuna heard such dejection in his voice. This boy had given up on his life. He was dragged from one nightmare to another. He was forced to relive the parts of his life he tried to forget. Yuna saw it all.

The gap between the boundary awoke the worst memories Kochi went through.

Kochi was sucked in multiple dimensions, where he rewatched parts of his childhood.

Yuna recalled the incident where Kochi would have suffered a concussion, but her divine intervention saved him. That was also the reason Yuna chose him, and it was not only because he was a cute little child.

She was sympathetic with this child, so is her now.

His face was deprived of any emotions, as he was consumed by the despair induced by being stuck in between. Yuna could only see things unfold. Her abilities were useless in a place where neither the living or the dead existed.

“Yuna, I want to tell you something that I never told anyone about.”

“Yes?”

“After I got thrown eggs, and cleaned up the mess, I went back home, right?”

“Yeah. And then?”

“Then I took a shower without having dinner.”

“It’s the time that you tried to hang yourself.”

Kochi turned his body to face away from Yuna.

Yuna remembered that incident. Kochi took the tie from the uniform and formed something resembling a hanging rope. Just like now, he was deprived of any emotions. 

Yuna did not want to lose this boy. 

Neither would his parents. They already lost one.

“I remember a piercing inner voice telling me not to do it.”

“That was me, you idiot.”

“It really was…”

“Yugocchi, I want you to know that you are loved. Don’t give up that easily.”

“I don’t want to get hurt again.”

He was right. He had been hurt enough.

“But…”

“I had been through enough deaths, beatings and teasing. Just leave me alone.”

Yuna was sure that he was crying, although the boy refused to show her. She could only pat his head and comforted him a little. He had not even recovered from his mother’s death, yet he suffered more, again.

_ He really did not ask for this much suffering, right? _

Not even Yuna wanted to respond to this. More like, she did not know how to.

“Yugocchi.”

“Yes?”

“I’m sure we’ll get out of here.”

“Thanks for the reassurance.”

“Perhaps, when you go to sleep, and open your eyes again, you’ll be back.”

“Such wishful thinking you have, Yuna-san.”

An outside voice alerted Yuna, while Kochi drifted back to sleep again.

_ “Found you! I missed you so much.” _

The string of fate Yuna placed between these two best friends did not betray her this time.

* * *

Kochi woke up again. This time, he was not outside. He was no longer at the grassland by the river. He was tucked into a comfortable, warm blanket, under a futon. The smell of this place was familiar. Kochi tried to make sense of his surroundings. He recognised everything, from the colour of the walls from what was placed in this room.

He got up, his head still dizzy from what happened for the past 5 days. Next to him was a bed, a huge bed, where someone was sleeping. He immediately knew who this room belonged to - Taiga, his dear friend.

Did the dimensions shift again?

No, it didn’t. The sky was blue, not red.

Kochi was back in the real world, the 1st Boundary, just as Yuna predicted.

_ “Yugocchi, I want you to know that you are loved. Don’t give up that easily.” _

_ “Perhaps, when you go to sleep, and open your eyes again, you’ll be back.” _

She was right. Was this Yuna’s doing? Or something else?

Taiga slept soundly in his bed. The clock by his bed showed that it was 7am. Quite early for both of them to wake up. Kochi quietly got out of his futon and went to the living room.

He was familiar with the Taiga household. He had been here multiple times.

“You’re awake!”

The first person Kochi saw was Taiga’s mother. She got older, but still looked kind and gentle. She was preparing breakfast for the family in the kitchen, cutting up vegetables and such.

“What happened?” Kochi skipped the greetings.

“Taiga said that he had a mission with you, and you passed out, so he brought you home.”

This was not what happened to him, but some lies had to be told, right?

Kochi fumbled around his pockets. His cellphone was still here. His keys were with him too. They were not there when he got stuck. He checked his cellphone. It was 7am. His cellphone was in full battery.

“Taiga will be happy to see you up and moving,” Taiga’s mother said.

“So it’s Kyomo who found me, huh.”

After washing himself up, Kochi slouched on the couch, staring aimlessly at the ceiling. 

He was sure that this was the 1st Boundary. He was back to the real world. 

As he heard Taiga’s mother preparing breakfast, he was reminded of his mom years prior, when he would return home for the weekends, before his mother was bedridden. She would cook him hearty meals every weekend. She would teach him how to make this and that.

Of course, Kochi taught himself a few things here and there.

He was loved by not only his mother, but also his best friend and his family. 

Not to mention, everyone in the Agency.

It was immature of him to tell Yuna to let him die.

He looked at his right wrist again. He always desperately tried to hide his right wrist with a silver bracelet and a black wristband, but today, he took the wristband off. 

All he saw were scars. Scars of pain he inflicted on himself, all because he did not want to burden anyone around him and turned his pain to himself. He was not proud of that, but his scars were recovering quite well these years.

Perhaps he had to ditch his habit of not telling others of his feelings or misfortunes.

“Are you okay?”

Taiga’s mother sat next to him.

Kochi quickly slipped the wristband back on his wrist.

“I just have a lot in mind,” Kochi replied. He continued to stare at the ceiling.

“Don’t burden yourself so much. I know it’s hard for you.”

She was aware of his mother’s passing. They were best friends, after all.

“I know. I keep thinking how lonely I am, yet, I failed to see that I’m surrounded by people who care about me.”

“It’s not too late to realise.”

“Thank you.”

She went back to the kitchen. Kochi decided to go on his phone. The Agency group chat was lively as ever. He assumed that no one knew what happened the past 5 days, so he sent a random message. A simple “hi” would do, he said to himself.

The group chat exploded.

_ “Kochi? You’re back?” _

_ “Where have you been for the past few days?” _

_ “Come on, he had important things to deal with. Of course he’s not going to be online.” _

_ “Welcome back! Will you come to the office today? :)” _

Kochi replied with a “yes” and a cute emoji. He found himself smiling stupidly at this group chat. Small things in life did matter, as long as he was reminded how much love he receives from others.

“Where is Kochi?”

Taiga finally woke up.

“You’re awake!”

Taiga rushed to the couch and sat next to his best friend. Overwhelmed with the feelings that they were finally united, the duo went for a hug.

“I missed you so much for these past 5 days,” Taiga cried.

“I thought I was going to die, and I contemplated it.”

“Don’t die, and don’t you ever scare me like that again!”

“Won’t happen next time, Kyomo.”

Taiga went to the bathroom afterwards.

_ “I’m always impressed by your bond with this kid.” _

“Yuna-san, you really came at the worst time.”

_ “Actually, the perfect time! Your friend just left.” _

“Whatever you say. You did this, didn’t you?”

_ “No, it’s entirely your bond with this kid.” _

“Huh?”

_ “The string of fate really worked to bring you back, hehe.” _

“It’s not your work?”

_ “No. Entirely because you and your friend are so close.” _

Kochi sighed. Yuna was always so vague with things.

Now that he is back in the real world, he had a lot of things to deal with, but more importantly, he was hungry. 

Breakfast was ready.

* * *

Kochi and Taiga arrived at the Agency together. Everyone was delighted to see Taiga being jolly again, as well as Kochi being fine after his two days of absence. It seemed that things were as if it was two days later, but both of them knew that it had been five days.

Kochi’s desk and belongings were there again.

Work went very well.

When Taiga went back home after a long day of work, he went to check the photo album again. Kochi was back in every single image. He smiled at the cheeky smiles both of them pulled as kids.

Good memories, he told himself.

He was glad that his best friend was back with him.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it :)))  
> I really don't have anything to say apart from the fact that I am still mentally hurt from Babel and this has drained me of all my energy for any more creative writing.  
> Tomorrow I will continue the drama.  
> Buh-bye.  
> \- Note Written on 6/12/2020, 1:44 a.m.


End file.
